


The Paper Mâché Elephant in the Room

by Nutriyum_Addict



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, House Cleaning, Moving In Together, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 16:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6812629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nutriyum_Addict/pseuds/Nutriyum_Addict
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the prompt: After Leslie and Ben get engaged, their new house looks pretty tidy. I would love seeing drabbles or a short fic on how Leslie addresses her packrat/hoarding behaviors. And with Ben being loving and supportive about helping her (trying not to make her feel angry or embarrassed, and trying to keep his own tendency to freak out under control).</p>
<p>I loooooove this prompt! Thank you so much!! :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Paper Mâché Elephant in the Room

Honestly, he’s a little concerned. Well, maybe not concerned. Worried?

Scared? Yeah, he’s a bit scared.

Of course it shouldn’t matter, but it kind of does. When they first started sneaking around and dating behind Chris’s back, they’d spent a lot of time at Leslie’s house and…the _clutter_ was hard to miss.

He was surprised but Ben was also so incredibly attracted to her and in awe of her, so he hardly commented on it after the initial shock and “good lord” as he had stepped inside that first night.

One night in the beginning, she had told him about her father dying when she was ten and it all had clicked into place. The hoarding. The not wanting to let anything go. The need to scrapbook and document every moment and experience. Ben gets it and he wants to be supportive and understanding, he really does…and yet, he does not want to live in a house with a dedicated birdhouse pile and issues of _Time_ magazines going back 20 years in a stack by the front door.

“You look like you want to go buy jeans.”

“What?” Ben turns to the side and stares at Leslie. “Oh, um, yeah, hi.”

“Hi,” She smiles and walks over to him. “You were mumbling to yourself and you seem freaked out.”

Even though she’s been up for hours, Leslie is still in pajamas–flannel ones since the fall weather has just started turning cold. Ben’s leaning against her kitchen counter waiting for the coffee. He stays where he is and watches her cross the room and can’t help but be drawn to the sparkle on her left hand–to the ring he put on there two days ago.

“Hi,” he returns finally, giving her what he hopes is an easy smile.

“You look anxious. You can’t have the ring back. It’s an official proposal, buddy. Accepted and a done deal. You have to marry me now.”

“Oh, thank god,” Ben answers, pulling her to him. “It better be a done deal.”

He kisses the side of her head while he tries to think fast about how to bring the hoarding thing up. She’s obviously onto him and Leslie is not going to let it go until he tells her what’s on his mind.

Ben decides on the direct approach. “I’m going to tell you something, and I want you to remember that I love you very much.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh boy. Are you already married?” Leslie pauses. “No. Am I already married?”

“No, babe. Wait…you’re not, right?”

“No,” she moves in and laughs against his lips. “You’re it. My first and last.”

They kiss for a few minutes. Maybe a half an hour? A full day? Ben is really bad at keeping track about time when Leslie is this close to him and their body parts are touching. When they’re this close, he also feels like everything will be okay.

“Good. So, I just, I love the house. The new one you found for us,” he says eventually, before he rubs his nose into hers. It’s cold so he presses against her again, trying to warm her up.

When he’s satisfied that her nose is all nice and toasty, he pours some coffee and they walk over to her dining room table. Ben moves a pile of board games, a paper mâché elephant, and craft supplies out of the way, while trying to keep is face neutral.

“So, I…love you.”

Leslie nods. “I know. And you already mentioned that.”

They grin at each other.

“Right. Okay. Let’s maybe…talk about a plan to keep the new house less…cluttered?” He turns it into a question at the end because…well, he’s really not sure.

She’s never seemed overly embarrassed about her home situation, but then again, they’ve never really discussed it in much detail. At first, Ben had tried to cover up his surprise and then they had moved on to him making an occasional pack-rat joke and her laughing at it.

Right now, he definitely does not want her to feel bad, but Ben feels like they do need to talk about this–-the literal elephant in the room.

“You don’t want to live in a _scary nightmare hoarder nest_.” When she says it, it’s clearly a statement and not a question.

“Um, well…not really.”

“I understand.”

“Okay, I just–”

She interrupts him with a wave of her hand. “I rented a second storage unit when I first started looking at houses for us last week.”

“You did?”

It’s such a relief when she says it. But then, of course Leslie would already be on top of this. He’s not even going to ask about the _second storage unit_ part of that.

Small steps, he reasons. Small, unmessy, baby steps.

“Yes, Ben. I know that most people…don’t live like this. And I don’t expect you to. I assumed when we started talking about moving in together, that I would have to get rid of some things. Or at least store some things somewhere different. Even though I have a system and it’s not that bad.”

Ben blinks at her. “Oh. Okay. That is…I mean I…alright. Thank you.” He’s not quite sure what else to say. Then he thinks of something. To clarify. “Just like, we should keep the main areas tidy. And the bedroom. And bathroom. The kit–”

“Right. I know. Less clutter throughout. I’m on it.”

“Do you need help with all this? I can help and I’m sure Ann would be happy to pitch in too.” He figures it would be like an auditing situation–-he goes in and decides what needs to be cut. Be unemotional and precise.

Okay…maybe he shouldn’t help.

But really, birdhouses, any newspapers older than 2000, Ben glances towards the hallway, taxidermied animals…they should all go, right?

“Oh, I’ve actually called in a professional. Maria Portlesman from the rec center class, _Organize your life with Maria Portlesman_. She’s actually helped me out before. She finds me a challenge.”

Ben laughs with relief but then he reaches across the table and takes her hand. “I understand, you know. About why you want to keep everything.”

She smiles and squeezes his hand in return. “I know you do.”

* * * * *

Maria Portlesman clears her schedule for a full week and she and Leslie get to work.

Ben stays out of it for the most part, although he does assist Leslie with whittling down her birdhouse collection to three (she’ll Goodwill four) and they make a compromise on newspapers and magazines earlier than 1997. The antique teaspoon collection gets donated to the Pawnee Historical Society and her political biographies will have a prominent space on the book shelves in their shared home.

They also decide that Leslie’s craft room in the new place is a _whatever goes_ space. She can keep it as messy or as clean as she wants and he will not care.

If it freaks him out, he’ll just pretend it’s not part of the house.

Towards the end of the week’s cleaning and sorting process, Leslie cuddles into him one night and whispers that having him in her life helps. Knowing that he’s there and he loves her makes it easier to let go of some things, to ease back on needing so many collections around her to make her feel secure. Ben listens and hugs and kisses her and rubs her back while she talks.

Neither of them mention that her dad never meant or wanted to leave, but Ben stops short of promising that he will _never_ die and leave her that way. 

He just holds her tighter.

* * * * *

After they move in and work on getting settled, there are numerous Garfield knick-knacks on the living room bookshelves. And owls. And framed photos. And so many books–-both his and hers.

But there are also clear walkways and only throw pillows on the couch. Ben hasn’t even stubbed his toe once in the middle of the night, if he gets up to go to the bathroom when it’s still dark out.

He’s gotten all of his stuff out of storage in Indianapolis and all his things back from DC and their guest bathroom now has a signed and framed _The Empire Strikes Back_ poster, as well as an antique washing board on the wall. They have movie nights where they can see the TV easily when they’re not pausing the screen and making out on the couch. It’s all a compromise and it’s him and Leslie working together and creating a home of their own.

“Babe?”

Ben looks up from an unpacking project–-his last box of books and old things from Partridge includes his coveted Millennium Falcon model. He thinks maybe he’ll get some fishing wire and hang it from the ceiling in his home office. With three bedrooms, he and Leslie both get a room to themselves for work or crafts. _At least for awhile_ , he thinks.

“Yeah?”

“I have some extra room in my storage units if you need to use any of it. You know, in case you have too much stuff or anything,” she says. “If you’re getting a little _hoardery_.” And then she smirks.

Ben’s response is quick. He jumps up from his spot and tackles her easily, gently pushing Leslie down on the couch with tickles and kisses while she laughs and squirms in his arms.


End file.
